skateboarding

[asakiyume]

In 2012, I was briefly a skateboarder. I loved the speed and grace and daring of it--I wanted to touch that and live that.

That time was brought back to me so vividly tonight watching Skate Kitchen (2018), which I requested from Netflix DVD because of osprey_archer's excellent review) of it. The film coveys the feel of skateboarding beautifully (and also the dangers of it--part of why I quit: I loved the daring but wasn't up for the injuries), and I loved the posse of girls--real-life members of the Skate Kitchen, an all-girl skate collective in New York City. The director apparently met members of the collective while riding the subway, and she used Rachelle Vinberg, who plays the main character in Skate Kitchen, in a 2016 short film, That One Day.

The scenes of New York City's skating haunts are ones I remember from a video of skateboarding I found and posted back in 2012--it made the movie feel extra real to me.

The trailer pretty accurately captures the feel of the film:

"Skate Kitchen Official Trailer - Starring The Skate Kitchen and Jaden Smith" (Watch on YouTube)

And osprey_archer, the quote you were trying to find is the voiceover at the start of the trailer (and the scene with the little girl is in the trailer too). You're right: it's beautiful.

Comments

[sartorias]

Oh that does look lovely!

[asakiyume]

Yes! If you and Rachel take a writing break, you can watch the 12-minute short that got developed into the full film.

[sovay]

That time was brought back to me so vividly tonight watching Skate Kitchen (2018), which I requested from Netflix DVD because of osprey_archer's excellent review) of it.

I saw the reviews for this one and then it played nowhere near me I could get to before it left. I'll fetch it off Netflix. Thanks!

[asakiyume]

Excellent; I can't wait to hear your thoughts.

[mallorys_camera]

'Nother movie you might like is Minding the Gap.

[asakiyume]

Yes, I think I'd love this! That trailer says it's Hulu film; I'll have to see if it's available in some other way...
ETA: Hmmm, available through Amazon prime. I don't have Amazon prime, but in my experience I'm able to rent a film that way anyway, Redbox style, so I'll look into that...

[mallorys_camera]

You can use my Hulu sub to watch it if you like. Just PM me for the login info.

[asakiyume]

Thank you! I will if I can't do it via Amazon. It's an independent film; I don't mind throwing a few dollars their way.

[osprey_archer]

Oh of COURSE that quote is in the trailer! It's the perfect quote for any trailer.

Sometimes I think I ought to take notes as I watch movies that I plan to review (as I did with Daughters of the Dust) but you don't always know which quote you're going to want, you know? Although on the other hand having a few quotes written down is probably better than none.

[asakiyume]

Yeah, and it's awkward to pause and go back if you're watching it on TV. I watched Daughters of the Dust on my computer, and on that, it's easy to stop and restart--but usually we're watching on the TV, and it's cumbersome.

Did you watch the 12-minute short? That thought about loneliness gets articulated in that, too, though not quite as powerfully. It's very interesting to see which things she did in the short that carried over. Like putting on the lipstick, or fiddling with the skateboard wheel.

[osprey_archer]

Yes! I just watched it. It was really interesting to see the differences between it and the full-length movie - like they went a different direction with the mother in the movie; in the trailer she's more of a generic concerned mother. And the things that didn't carry over - like the part near the end with the girls skating around in dresses, particularly the two in those matching blue and white floating robes.

But there's a dream-like quality to the short (particularly the way the girls show up, like magic, after our heroine takes a fall), which makes that fit in there when it would have fit less well in the movie.

[asakiyume]

Yeah! I was interested that she decided to make the mom Latina; I liked the idea of the daughter having that heritage, but I'm guessing actual Rachelle does *not* have that heritage (though you can't tell from a person's surname, necessarily). And I loved those long dresses! But I liked the eventual direction she took the full-length film; it's clearly richer.

[osprey_archer]

I read some interviews after I watched the film, and Rachelle's RL mom is Colombian (per this interview, so that may have prompted the change.

[asakiyume]

Yay! I'm glad! Viva Colombia!!

And she did **look** Latina to me; she looked like a woman I used to know on LJ, so much so I commented on it.

[asakiyume]

(But now I'm like, mad that the director de-ethnicized Rachelle in the short. But I should calm the hell down, because she corrected that for the feature.)